This invention relates to a connector (universal serial bus (USB) receptacle) matable with at least two types of mating connectors (plugs), wherein the connector comprises a structure to identify the type of the mating connector mated with the connector. Moreover, this invention relates to the USB receptacle (special receptacle) matable with any plug of a USB 3.0 plug in accordance with a USB 3.0 standard, a USB 2.0 plug in accordance with a USB 2.0 standard, and a special plug, wherein the special receptacle comprises a detector to identify whether the mated plug is the special plug or not.
For example, a connector matable with a mating connector is disclosed in JP-A 2005-242476 or JP-A 2009-164087, contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The connector of JP-A 2005-242476 is a USB receptacle in accordance with a USB standard so that the USB receptacle is connectable to a USB plug. The USB receptacle of JP-A 2005-242476 is provided with a switch so as to determine whether the USB plug is connected or not. However, the USB receptacle of JP-A 2005-242476 is undetectable the type of the connected USB plug.
The connector of JP-A 2009-164087 is detectable the type of the mating connector. In other words, the connector of JP-A 2009-164087 has a detecting structure to detect the type of the mating connector. However, the connector of JP-A 2009-164087 is not a connector in accordance with a USB standard such as the USB 2.0 standard or the USB 3.0 standard. Moreover, considering the USB standard, it is difficult to apply the detecting structure of the connector of JP-A 2009-164087 to a USB receptacle such as the connector of JP-A 2005-242476.
Nevertheless, it is desired to connect a special USB plug (special plug), which is configured by modifying a standard USB plug in accordance with the USB standard such as the USB 2.0 standard or the USB 3.0 standard, to a USB receptacle (special receptacle) which is connectable to the standard USB plug.
It is also desired that the USB receptacle connected to the special USB plug functions differently from the USB receptacle connected to the standard USB plug. For example, it is desired to supply a large current to the special USB plug while supplying a standard current to the standard USB plug.
Moreover, it is desired to connect the special USB plug to a standard USB receptacle in accordance with the USB standard. In other words, it is desired to avoid that the special USB plug is connectable only to the special receptacle.